Monologues of an Iraqi-Kiwi

Tuesday, 5 July 2016

There will be acandlelight vigilheld on Wednesday 6th of
July at the Mission Bay Fountain at 7.30pm in solidarity with the victims of
the recent Baghdad bombing carried out by ISIS in the Karrada district. This
vigil is organised by the Iraqi community of Auckland who will come together to
show their support for the victims of this tragedy and their loved ones. The
Iraqi community will express their sympathy by honouring the victims of this
brutal attack on humanity and remembering all the innocent lives that have been
lost in Iraq over the past couple of days. Some community members will also be
collecting donations for The Red Cross Iraq Crisis Appeal. Iraqi Kiwi’s have
called for a show of solidarity with Iraq by lighting up the Sky Tower in
Auckland with the Iraqi flag colours just as it has been for previous victims
all over the world. The Iraqi community hope others can share their grief and
show compassion for the many innocent lives that have been lost in their home
country. While many Iraqi Kiwi’s call New Zealand home now, they still continue
to follow events in Iraq closely as they have loved ones still living there.
The community will be uniting tomorrow to say that Iraq matters too. Iraqi
victims have names, faces, dreams and hopes too. They too, like those in Paris
or Brussels, have stories.

Thursday, 10 December 2015

I have recently returned from a trip to Iraq. On my arrival
at Auckland airport I was racially profiled, taken aside and questioned as to
what I was doing over there by customs officers. As a New Zealand citizen of
20+ years who considers this place home I did not feel so great sitting in
customs being made to feel like I had done something wrong.

A couple of days ago Rebecca Kitteridge, head of New Zealand
Security Intelligence Service (SIS), revealed that there has been a rise in the
number of New Zealand women travelling to Syria and Iraq, a concern that she is
worried about. I am disheartened to hear that this is probably why I was
stopped and questioned at the airport.

My mother and I travel often to the Middle East to visit our family and
this time was no different. I have been travelling to Iraq from New Zealand since
2009 to visit my family and spend time with my loved ones. Before that I had
not visited Iraq since 1999. While I was there last month I spent time with my
grandma, my cousins, my uncles and extended family members. I learnt more about
myself and where I am from but was reminded that despite loving my homeland, my
homeland is destroyed and is not a place I can call home any more. My heart breaks for Iraq and Syria every day, they continue to be burned to the ground day by day.

In today’s current political environment where anti-Muslim
sentiment is rife, the comments Kitteridge has made about Kiwi women travelling
to join ISIS has caused the media to pick this up within a heartbeat and has created a sense of fear amongst the general public. One only needs to look at the
comment section on the NZ Herald or TV3 News Facebook page to understand the
deep hysteria and divide such comments make.

Why is this type of commentary scaremongering? Because there
is no real proof for any of these supposed 12 or less kiwi woman actually
having either joined to fight alongside ISIS or marry ISIS fighters in support
of the cause, namely to be a “Jihadi Bride”. Three News reported that Kitteridge told Parliament’s intelligence and security
committee that over the last year something that has changed is the number of
women going to Iraq and Syria. John Key then asked her if these women were going to
become Jihadi brides to which she answered “presumably”. Later she however did
say that it is difficult to tell what the women do once they are there. And Key
has said that it “appears on all the factors” and “the facts point to them”
going as Jihadi brides. This is not proof nor is it solid. It is pure
assumption.

What about the other very rational and simple explanation
that some of us, like myself, actually go to visit our families? Although it
may be hard to believe that some would go to war torn areas to visit loved
ones but frankly, we have no choice! If our families are not able to leave then
we would not see them if we did not go ourselves. There are many, if not
thousands, of Kiwi Iraqi’s and Syrian’s who happen to have families caught in
the crossfire in both Iraq and Syria. And again, while hard to believe, people
do actually go and visit these families. Family has a strong ethical root in
our cultural values and despite the risk to our safety it is important to
reunite with our family members, whatever the cost.

Kitteridge also said that they have been previously unaware
of women travelling to Iraq and Syria and that this is something they have seen
in the last year. Perhaps it was just not something they have been interested
in monitoring in the past? It’s very odd to think that this is an entirely new
phenomena that New Zealand citizens are travelling to Iraq and Syria. I personally
know many in the Iraqi community that have been visiting Iraq for the last few
years. Many women included.

The Muslim community has demanded proof from SIS of the
supposed women who are joining Islamic State because the entire community is surprised to hear about such accusations. I
commend this demand as without it there is no real grounds for the assumptions
that are being made. These comments are damaging for our community and will
only harm our ever growing multi-cultural society in New Zealand.